Nearly 400 members of emergency response
teams, Uruguayan and U.S. military and volunteers participated
in a simulated accident to gauge the preparedness of emergency
services in Uruguay.
The exercise, staged by the National Emergencies System
of the Presidency of the Republic and the Health Management
Institute of the U.S. Department of Defense, was organized
through the Office of Defense Cooperation of the U.S. Embassy.
Montevideo Mayor Mariano Arana, Minister of the Interior
Guillermo Stirling and Congressman Gustavo Penades, along
with high-ranking military officials, came to watch the
exercise. The event was heavily covered by Uruguayan media.
The “accident,” began with smoke rising from
a truck and bus that were placed in a position to simulate
a head-on collision on a road near the Charrua Stadium.
Volunteers, from the U.S. Embassy community, the Uruguayan
American School, Montevideo Players Society and various
other organizations, were made up with fake blood, peeling
skin and bruises to look like realistic accident victims.
They were “trapped” in the bus or sprawled out
on the street. An emergency call was placed and fire engines
arrived at the scene within minutes, followed closely by
teams prepared to deal with hazardous materials that could
endanger the surrounding area.
The purpose of the exercise was to test the Plan of Response
to Emergencies with Hazardous Substances in National Highways
and Department Roads, which includes numerous organizations
and agencies. The drill offered the opportunity to enact
the guidelines of the Plan of Sanitary Response to multicasualty
accidents and/or disasters in the entire national territory.
This plan is currently in the stage of preparation and final
evaluation.
The U.S. specialized team participating in the exercise
included Capt. Timothy Tyre, Psychologist and Specialist
in Behavior, Evaluation and Operations, LCDR Kimberley Marshall,
Chief of the Department of Evaluation and TriCare Analysis,
Col. José Morales, Chief of Medical Evacuations of
Scott Air Force Base and specialist Reynold Garcia.
Tyre, who plans to file a full report on the emergency response,
said his initial reaction is that Uruguay has an adequate
system in place to handle such a disaster.
“This is a very big disaster, with an unknown toxic
agent,” Tyre said. “I’m very impressed
with the way the fire department got here, set up a perimeter,
stopped the leak of the toxic agents, determined what the
leak was before they just rushed in. Sometimes you can make
victims sicker if you don’t understand what the agent
is.”
Tyre said the emergency response teams also performed well
in setting up a command center, tracking the cases and moving
them to the hospitals.
“Great credit is to be given to the national emergency
system which is trying to become better and better, “
he said. “This is how you do it. You do big drills
like this. Certain things work perfect, but not everything.
We’re going to study this and make additional comments
after we carefully look at all this.”
Commander Vince Lambert, who coordinated the event through
the Office of Defense Cooperation at the U.S. Embassy, said
similar exercises have been executed in 40 countries and
the United States. The first stage of the exercise for Uruguay
was carried out last year in a workshop organized and attended
by the team of U.S. specialists and the below organizations
and agencies.
- Ministry of Public Health
Hospitals (Maciel, Pasteur, Pereira Rossell, SS.A.E. Ambulances).
HMOs: (Asociación Española, CASMU, British
Hospital), emergency medical assistance systems (UCM, SUAT,
SEMM), University’s Hospital de Clínicas.
- Ministry of the Interior (National Fire Department, National
Highway Patrol, National Police Health Directorate and Montevideo
Police Department).
- Ministry of Defense (Armed Forces and National Armed Forces
Health Directorate);
- Ministry of Transportation and Public Works (National
Transportation Directorate);
- Ministry of Housing, Land Use Planning and Environment
(National Environment Directorate);
- Municipality of Montevideo;
- Montevideo Emergencies Committee;
- Red Cross
.
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| Tim Tyre, of the Department of Defense's
specialized team, applies fake blood and bruises to
Micah Kagler, UAS student volunteer. |
Red Cross workers evaluate response
by Uruguayan emergency workers in emergency drill. |
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| Volunteer "victims" in bus
involved in staged accident. |
Rescuers helps volunteer "victim"
to safety. |
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| Volunteer "victim" is decontaminated
and prepared for transport to hospital. |
Hazardous materials response team aids
truck driver in staged accident. |
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| Tyre speaks to media about Uruguay's
emergency preparedness. |
CMDR Vince Lambert, Office of Defense
Cooperation of the U.S. Embassy, speaks to media representative.
|
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| From left:Police with Mayor Mariano
Arana and Minister of the Interior Guillermo Stirling |
Emergency workers transport volunteer
"victim" to hospital. |
